If You Listen to One Audiobook this Month, Make it One of These
Grain Valley Publishing’s recommendations for Audiobook Month
June is Audiobook Month, and the catalogs are full. So let me save you the scrolling. We created two audiobooks at Grain Valley Publishing, and both have spent the last year collecting the kind of proof you can check for yourself. Here is what to put in your ears, and why the people who judge this work for a living already pressed play.
In a must-listen performance, Dani Martinec voices TJ Crowley in the audio drama.
Dion Graham (Dr. Washington) and Tavia Gilbert (Kate Crowley) were heralded lead performers and co-producers of the Audie Award winning TJ Crowley audio drama. Gilbert also voiced Maggie Vaults Over the Moon to rave reviews.
First listen: The Real Education of TJ Crowley: Coming of Age on the Redline
Start here if you want a full-cast audio drama, not a single reader. It is set in Wichita in 1968, told through a boy named TJ, and the performances carry it.
The proof is on the record. In 2025 it won the Audie Award for Best Young Adult Audiobook, the only independent finalist to take its category that night. The Independent Publisher Book Awards named it Outstanding Audiobook of the Year the same season. Kirkus Audiobook Reviews put it plainly: "Performed by a gifted cast, this slice of our history stays with the listener."
The cast is the reason. Dion Graham, a member of the Audible Narrator Hall of Fame, plays Dr. Washington. Dani Martineck voices TJ, and Kirkus Audiobooks credited her with "just the right tone and delivery." The spiritual music of the ARISE Ensemble runs underneath the story and carries the hardest scenes.
Educators have found their own use for it. Jenna Chandler-Ward of Teaching While White calls it "the perfect book to spur frank discussions about whiteness with teens and young adults."
Kirkus Audiobook Reviews said of the recording, "Gilbert's splendid portrayals will thoroughly engage listeners."
Second listen: Maggie Vaults Over the Moon
Pick this one for summer. It is the story of a farm girl who takes up the pole vault after a loss, read start to finish by Tavia Gilbert, who performs every voice herself.
Here the proof comes from people who know the runway. US Olympic pole vaulter Becky Holliday said, "This book captured me cover to cover. I highly recommend it." State champion Taylor Marie Swanson said the story "will make any girl feel like they can accomplish their dreams."
Kirkus called the book "a fine YA novel about perseverance in sports and in life," and Kirkus Audiobook Reviews said of the recording, "Gilbert's splendid portrayals will thoroughly engage listeners."
Maggie travels in fast company, too. CITIUS Mag put it on their list of 100 books every runner and track fan should read.
Download Now
Two outstanding choices for your listening enjoyment.
The only thing left is the part where you press play.
The Real Education of TJ Crowley
Library listening (free for patrons)
Also available on Spotify, Apple Music, etc.
Maggie Vaults Over the Moon
Library listening (free for patrons)